'This Stock Could Easily Go To $200': Why Josh Brown Bought Moderna Shares

Ritholtz Wealth Management's Josh Brown has managed to successfully catch another falling knife — at least short term. 

With Moderna Inc MRNA 75% off its high, Brown bought shares around the $125 level.

"This was on a list of tickers that I have had longstanding buy limit orders in at what I was calling ludicrous prices. Well I got my ludicrous price in Moderna yesterday," Brown said Wednesday on CNBC's "Fast Money Halftime Report."

Although Brown noted he's not "wildly bullish" on the stock, he thinks Moderna is an amazing company. He emphasized that he bought the stock in a 75% drawdown from its highs.

"This was a $500 stock that fell to $125 and to be frank, I think it's one of the most cutting-edge technologically exciting companies of all the publicly-traded opportunities in the pharma, biotech, healthcare space," Brown said.

See Also: Moderna Plans Vaccines Against 15 Pathogens With Future Pandemic Potential

He bought Moderna shares at a $50 billion market cap. The company has already guided for $19 billion in vaccine sales for 2022 and that doesn't include any federal government orders, Brown said, adding that there is probably a lot of upside to the guidance.

"This stock could easily go to $200" if another variant pops up or there is additional need for boosters, he said: "I think there is a lot of potential upside, not a ton of potential downside."

MRNA Price Action: Moderna has traded as low as $117.34 and as high as $497.49 over a 52-week period.

The stock was up 10.6% at $142.97 at time of publication.

Photo: Marco Verch from Flickr.